Police officer disciplinary by senior rank

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.038217

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please provide the following information.

1. The number of police officers (of the ranks listed below) who have been subject to disciplinary investigations (including but not limited to criminal investigations) during this calendar year (2024).
2. The number of police officers (of the ranks listed below) who have been subject to restrictions on their duties or responsibilities due to disciplinary investigation during this calendar year (2024).

Please provide this information broken down for the following ranks: + Superintendent + Chief Superintendent + Chief Officers (Commander and Deputy Assistant Commissioner - excluding Management Board level) + Management Board level (Assistant Commissioner and above)

Please note I am not requesting personally identifiable information in any form - purely the numbers for the above four levels. Many thanks for your assistance.

Clarification -
Thank you for your email which pertains to my FOI request.

You have asked me to clarify whether Q2 relates to officers in Q1.

My answer is: One might presume that it would be logical that the officers who count under Q2 may well already be included in Q1 – in that an officer would only be restricted due to disciplinary investigation if one was under disciplinary investigation. However, if there are any officers who have been restricted for disciplinary purposes yet have somehow not been under disciplinary (including but not limited to criminal) investigation, then please do include them in your response to Q2.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 40(2) – Personal Information

Reason for decision

Section 40(2) – Personal Information - Our data returned low figures for Q1 and Q2. To disclose the specific ranks would mean that there is a high likelihood of individuals being identifiable and the potential for the information to be combined with related information known to, or accessible by police officers and staff. This would be unwarranted as they would reasonably expect information relating to alleged misconduct to be held in confidence and not be disclosed for a non-law enforcement purpose.

Disclosure

Q1 - The number of police officers (of the ranks listed below) who have been subject to disciplinary investigations (including but not limited to criminal investigations) during this calendar year (2024).

In 2024 there have been seven conduct matters, public complaints or criminal investigations taking place.

Q2 - The number of police officers (of the ranks listed below) who have been subject to restrictions on their duties or responsibilities due to disciplinary investigation during this calendar year (2024).

Two officers have been restricted in relation to ongoing investigations prior to 2024.